Aberdeenshire Council are reminding local residents to safely recycle their items after gas cylinders were found among household waste.
Several small propane gas cylinders were emptied into refuse lorries from blue-lidded bins during a recent household recycling collection.
The gas cylinders were not spotted until the waste was being processed and luckily there were no injuries or damage reported.
Ros Baxter, waste manager at Aberdeenshire Council, said: “It is a sheer miracle that these gas cylinders remained intact during the collection process. Had they been crushed and damaged, they could have exploded which would have caused serious damage to the vehicles.”
A number of contaminating materials have been traced over the past few months and despite not being as dangerous as the gas cylinders, they can still cause problems.
Ms Baxter said: “Contamination of recycling is a real concern for us and it could result in us having to send an entire batch of recyclable material to landfill which costs the council – and ultimately the taxpayer – money.
Items including broken electricals, polystyrene, bedding and even bagged dog waste have been found in household recycling collections. The council are reminding residents to instead book a slot to take non-household waste to one of its recycling centres to be processed correctly.
There are 90 recycling points across the region and textile banks for unwanted clothes can be found at many supermarkets.
Ms Baxter said: “I would encourage everyone to visit our website where they will find clear advice on what type of material we accept in household recycling collections and what items can be properly disposed of at our household recycling centres.”